26.27 Carat Diamond bought for £10 to Fetch up to £350,000 for Owners

A 26.27 carat, cushion-shaped, white diamond bought for £10 at a car boot sale one Sunday in West Middlesex Hospital, Isleworth, West London in the 1980s is being projected to make up to £350,000 for its owners at Sotheby’s this July, DailyMail reports.

The owner wore the gemstone for years not knowing that it is real until a jeweller mentioned that it could be of substantial value. When it was taken to Sotheby’s, it was vetted and the value estimated.

Jessica Wyndham, head of Sotheby’s London jewellery department said:

The owner would wear it out shopping, wear it day-to-day. It’s a good looking ring. But it was bought as a costume jewel. No-one had any idea it had any intrinsic value at all. They enjoyed it all this time.

They’d been to quite a few car boot sales over the years. But they don’t have any history of collecting antiques and they don’t have any history of collecting diamonds. This is a one-off windfall, an amazing find.

They came in with the idea that it might be real and they had no idea of its value.

We had a look and said … ‘I think that’s a diamond and we got it tested at the Gemological Institute of America.’

The majority of us can’t even begin to dream of owning a diamond that large.

Jessica said the older style of diamond cutting was “slightly duller and deeper than you would see in a modern style,” adding that “it could trick people into thinking it’s not a genuine stone.”

Serendipity may have prompted the owners to buy the ring in the first place, she said, “but a 26 carat, cushion-shaped diamond, no matter how filthy or dark that mount was, maybe that stone still speaks to people.”

“They also bought some designer dresses for about £10. We should have all been at the car sale!” Jessica added.

Jessica said the owners, who preferred to remain anonymous are “incredibly excited, anyone would be in this position.”

“It’s a life-changing amount of money. No matter what your background is or what your past experiences have been, it’s going to revolutionise someone’s life,” she said.

The diamond ring will be offered as part of Sotheby London’s Fine Jewels sale, on July 7.